Anthony BAMITEKO

 

The Christmas day Eucharistic Celebration at St. Mary Cathedral was held outside the Church compound, due to the ongoing renovation inside the Church. V. Rev. Fr. Julius Akinyode, the Cathedral Administrator and the homilist of the day, said the people should not fear the early morning sun that it's vitamin D, and that it's vitamin malaria anytime from 11am onward.

 

The homilist said if Jesus Christ is born ten times again in Bethlehem, but if Jesus in not born again in our heart as believers, we are only wasting our time as Christians. He explained further that in the past, Christmas used to be celebrated in hiding, but Pope Julius (1) changed the narratives by going out to preach to pagans.

 

"The grace we have is not inferior to that of Pope Julius. In fact, we have the liberty to preach Christ now than then. But do we tell people about Christ?" Fr. Julius asked the congregation.

 

The Administrator encouraged the faithful to reach out to the poor, the sick, prisoner and not to merry alone in Christmas. "Jesus that we are celebrating during this season gave himself up as a whole. You need to give something essential too. Don't give to those that can give you back in this season alone. When you give to those that can give to you back, you are not celebrating Christ. At Christmas, your mission is to give to those that won't have the capacity to give you back."

 

He concluded his homily by asking the parishioners to pray and not to forget countries like Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Gaza celebrating Christmas in fear.

 

Before the final blessing, the Chief Celebrant of the Mass, Rev. Fr. Anthony Fasakin asked the congregation to be on their feet and sing happy birthday song for Catechist Patrick Oladimeji, that had his birthday thanksgiving on the day. Baba Oladimeji is the oldest serving part-time Catechist in the Cathedral till date. During my probation days as a lector, no matter how early I tried to be at the 6:00am Mass, I always met Baba at the Sacristy. He must have prepared the host and wine, and be the one to ring Angelus bell. Though, technology has filled that space, we now have a programmed Angelus bell that starts by itself automatically.